Image via Complex Original
When we called Disclosure one of the 13 acts to watch for 2013, we figured we'd catch some sideways glances. While the brothers Lawrence have been blog darlings since 2010, their sound really gained steam in 2012, with their single "Latch" catching fire both online and IRL. News of a debut album was met with excitement, and all subsequent material, from the white-hot "White Noise" to "When a Fire Starts to Burn" catching immediate love when they touched down. But what do we really know about these guys? The name "Disclosure" won't be going away any time soon, so now's as good a time as any to look into what you don't know about the duo.
Burial's "Untrue" made the brothers want to produce dance music
It's interesting to think that the duo who has made their mark by sparking this garage/house resurgence (even if that wasn't their aim) first got into dance music via the melancholy vibes from Burial's finest, as well as material from Joy Orbison.
They come from a musical family
Disclosure records in the studio their uncle used to record in. Their father and uncle were in bands (word is their father had been in talks with a number of labels). Their mother used to do radio jingles, and their grandparents were musicians as well.
The brothers didn't hang out until they discovered bass music
Being three years apart, they naturally didn't roam in the same circles, but it was the discovery of the UK bass music scene in both Guy and Howard that got them to start clubbing, and ultimately start working on music together.
The first CD Guy purchased was an R Kelly single
The brothers used to rent CDs from the library, and started to purchase CDs via the Internet. Guy got his music buying started with R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)," whereas Howard's first purchase was the first Beatles album.
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MySpace programs helped spark interest in their music early on
As Guy tells it, "We just put out a MySpace and there was a thing on MySpace called Friend Blaster. It was where you could get someone’s page up and add all their friends to this program – which is illegal, but – we did that and added all of these DJ friends that we liked. One of them just happened to run a really good blog. We got on that blog and then within a couple of weeks we met these guys who started managing us."
The origin of the "scribble face"
They needed for artwork for their first release, and a friend of their management drew the "scribble face," which they liked. They couldn't afford new artwork for their next single, so they used the "scribble face" again... and again. It's since taken a life of its own, with the image becoming their logo, ending up on shirts and the faces of thousands of fans and other figures.
They used to call their music "lovestep"
When Disclosure started out producing, they weren't concerned with fitting their sound into boxes or genres (and still scoff at terms like "future garage"), so the brothers decided early-on to cheekily refer to their music as "lovestep," although it doesn't seem like that moniker stuck to them.
Their mother is their biggest fan
Aside from the usual news clippings and such, their mum Carolyn Tickle used to tweet and post everything about her son's success, and has even spoken with Annie Mac on occasion about their tunes. This eventually lead to her running the blog on their website, and getting paid to do it.
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The voice used in "When a Fire Starts to Burn" is Eric Thomas
Eric Thomas is known as the "hip-hop preacher," and is seen by many as one of the best motivational speakers.
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Guy would like to fly
When Pigeons & Planes asked the brothers about what they'd wish for, Guy said he'd like to have the ability to fly. Howard said he'd like to have the power of spawning objects... "like money and beer." Sounds like our kind of super power!
